IC 4603 - The Turbulent Heart of the Scorpion

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Hi All,

Here is the latest image from my 12.5" f/4 scope. Data was gathered from early March and into April. Since the clouds have been obscuring any imaging lately from my location, I have instead taken to processing some data!

Link to large image (4 MB)

Some may recognise this view as I did take an image of this area back in 2012 - one of the first with my QSI camera. This new image is considerably more detailed and colourful thanks to the increased aperture - and certainly also to an improvement in processing skills
Interestingly, while the whole Rho Ophiuchi region is one of the most photographed in the sky there hardly exists any high resolution images of this; its colourful action packed core area.

About the image:
This image shows the core region of the Rho Ophiuchi Complex, centered around the prominent blue reflection nebula IC 4603. This is one of the nearest star forming regions and the intricacies of the dense interstellar dust clouds in the area provide a spectacular display of light and shade; the contrasting hues making this one of the most dramatic and colourful patches of the entire night sky.

Even the brightest parts of this dusty nebulousity is barely noticeable when viewed through large amateur telescopes. This deep exposure brings out the full splendour of the scene and shows the delicately swirling clouds like an expressionist painting on a giant interstellar canvas.

The bright star is 7.9 magnitude SAO184376 which is the main source of light for the blue reflection nebula. The contrasting red areas are primarily illuminated by the red supergiant star Antares, which lies just outside the field of view.
Antares has been referred to as the heart of the scorpion since antiquity, and we now know that it is one of the largest stars in existence.

The dense nebulousity blocks the usual sprawling star fields that are normally seen near the galactic plane. Instead the area is littered with dim reddish stars, which are typically very young T Tauri stars. Such stars are among the youngest visible stars with masses comparable to our Sun. Because they have only recently condensed out of the surrounding molecular clouds their core temperatures are not yet high enough for hydrogen fusion. Instead they are powered by heat released from gravitational contraction, which lasts until the star reaches a density where the fusion process ignites. For these stars this initial stage of stellar evolution takes approximately 100 million years. The process is typically much faster for blue giant stars which evolve and burn their hydrogen at a furious pace before exploding as brilliant supernovae.

Image details:
Date: 6th, 7th, 10th, 27th, 28th, 31st March and 4th, 6th April 2014
Telescope: Homebuilt 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Exposure: LRGB 755:80:75:75 mins, total 16hrs 25mins @ -25C
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand

Hope you like the view - all comments and critique welcome as always.

Regards,
Rolf

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

That's beautiful Rolf. It's nice to see it up close and personal.

[RickS (Rick)]

A very interesting new take on Rho Oph, Rolf. Well done!

[Spookyer (Brett)]

Wonderful blue nebulosity there great work, I am putting that one on my list.

Cheers
Brett

[Rod771 (Rod)]

Very nice Rolf

I'm planning to give this area a go soon too.

[gregbradley]

Sensational Rolf.

Greg.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Lovely play with light, gas and dust going on in this region with plenty of vibrant colour stars look tight and intense too, great job Rolf.

Mike

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Simply lovely Rolf and with a home built scope too.

Cheers

Steve

[Nico13 (Ken)]

Spectacular as always Rolf and I really enjoy your write up of the image area.
Thanks for showing.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Terrific shot Rolf. You must have got some pretty good seeing. Sublime details and colours. Those stars are so tight. One of the, if not the best rendition I've seen that close up to this part of the nebula. One for the cool wall.

[Paul Haese]

Very nice Rolf. I did this same area a couple of years ago but not nearly as nicely as this image. Nice colours and not oversaturated.

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Very nicely done Rolf. Good on you for getting up close and personal with such a familiar patch of sky. IMO, a whole world of opportunities open up to show a different view of many familiar objects when you apply a large aperture, narrow field instrument!

Cheers, Marcus

[Warhen (Warren)]

Nice work Rolf! Thank you for asking to be my friend on Facebook. Your style reminds me of my own, which I like in your work, but for whatever reason, can't stop beating up on myself about! ;>)

[Dennis]

What a different and quite stunning view of this familiar region. Love the texture, tones and details throughout the image. Really nicely done Rolf, quite a labour of love, with the multi-session exposures and post capture processing.

Always enjoy your images and write ups about them.

Cheers

Dennis

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Stunning Rolf!. Youve got it nailed, and the description tops off a very professional effort.

[atalas]

Terrific Rolf....mosaic to follow?

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by rcheshire

That's beautiful Rolf. It's nice to see it up close and personal.

Thanks Rowland, yeah there are not very many images zooming in on this area, Rho seems to be more of a wide field target traditionally.

Originally Posted by RickS

A very interesting new take on Rho Oph, Rolf. Well done!

Thank you Rick! I got a taste for this area with my first version in 2012 but always felt it needed a bit more TLC

Originally Posted by Spookyer

Wonderful blue nebulosity there great work, I am putting that one on my list.

Cheers
Brett

Thanks Brett, I like the blues too, it is a spectacular area for sure.

Originally Posted by Rod771

Very nice Rolf

I'm planning to give this area a go soon too.

Thank you Rod Looking forward to see your version.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Sensational Rolf.

Greg.

Thanks very much Greg!

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Lovely play with light, gas and dust going on in this region with plenty of vibrant colour stars look tight and intense too, great job Rolf.

Mike

Thank you Mike, the colours are really diverse in this area thanks to the different reflection and emission nebulae and the wisps of dust the obscures them in various ways. I had descent seeing while capturing the data, with FWHM around 2.5".

Originally Posted by Stevec35

Simply lovely Rolf and with a home built scope too.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks very much Steve. The new scope is performing really well, I'm very happy with it.

Originally Posted by Nico13

Spectacular as always Rolf and I really enjoy your write up of the image area.
Thanks for showing.

Thank you Ken, and thanks for liking the writeup. I do try to provide some interesting info on most of my targets.

Originally Posted by multiweb

Terrific shot Rolf. You must have got some pretty good seeing. Sublime details and colours. Those stars are so tight. One of the, if not the best rendition I've seen that close up to this part of the nebula. One for the cool wall.

Thanks a lot Marc, yes seeing was quite good with FWHM around 2.5". I can often get lower than that but certainly also worse, so it was a good run.
I think there are only a handful of images of the area at this scale, so thought it was worth some effort for a reasonably deep image.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Very nice Rolf. I did this same area a couple of years ago but not nearly as nicely as this image. Nice colours and not oversaturated.

Thank you Paul, the colours in particular was what I felt lacked a bit in my previous version so am glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Very nicely done Rolf. Good on you for getting up close and personal with such a familiar patch of sky. IMO, a whole world of opportunities open up to show a different view of many familiar objects when you apply a large aperture, narrow field instrument!

Cheers, Marcus

Thanks very much Marcus, yes I definitely love hi res deep sky imaging and built my scope and imaging setup with that purpose. You are right in saying that there are plenty of opportunities - my main worry is how to find time to image them all. Ok, maybe if I didn't spend 120 hours on one target...

Originally Posted by Warhen

Nice work Rolf! Thank you for asking to be my friend on Facebook. Your style reminds me of my own, which I like in your work, but for whatever reason, can't stop beating up on myself about! ;>)

Thanks Warren, your images have certainly been an inspiration to me, and continue to be.
I'm glad you liked this different take on an old favourite

Originally Posted by Dennis

What a different and quite stunning view of this familiar region. Love the texture, tones and details throughout the image. Really nicely done Rolf, quite a labour of love, with the multi-session exposures and post capture processing.

Always enjoy your images and write ups about them.

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks a lot Dennis, I was surprised with the hues and level of detail that emerged during processing. Each raw sub didn't show much at all, but that makes this game all the more satisfying.
I think I'm getting used to putting in the effort, and really enjoying it. These days I hardly ever take a single session image

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Stunning Rolf!. Youve got it nailed, and the description tops off a very professional effort.

Thank you Fred, glad you liked the writeup too!
I thought you might like this view in particular as it is pretty much a native starless area

Originally Posted by atalas

Terrific Rolf....mosaic to follow?

Thanks Louie, it would certainly be nice to get a couple of surrounding frames for a mosaic, but at 16 hours each I'm not sure when I'd be finished.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by SkyViking

These days I hardly ever take a single session image

...I want a 20" F3

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

...I want a 20" F3

I'll second that One day...

[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Very close up !